Across Africa, the Foundation focused on accelerating national vision care systems while expanding access and uptake, anchored in the WHO SPECS 2030 framework.

As the Global Collaborating Partner on SPECS 2030, the Foundation worked alongside governments to integrate eye health into public systems, with active engagement across Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia, Ethiopia and Namibia.

At the systems level, the Foundation supported country-led SPECS implementation through national technical working groups, strategy development and coordination with Ministries of Health and local WHO offices, including national workshops bringing together key stakeholders in Malawi, Zambia, and The Gambia.

In Kenya and Nigeria, this included advancing priorities such as tariff reduction, sustainable vision centres and tele-refraction to address workforce and cost barriers. In Zambia, government-run district vision centres and the National Optical Laboratory, established with Foundation support, now deliver refractive services at scale and supply eyeglasses to more than 60 vision centres nationwide. We also supported over 20 unemployed optometrists to establish their own businesses - similar strategies were developed in Ethiopia, and this year we launched 75 access points.

Record-breaking achievements were a defining feature of the year. In just six months, over one million people across Africa received a pair of eyeglasses, supported by partnerships with local

governments and like-minded partners, including CHAI, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Cure Blindness Project, Sightsavers, Operation Eyesight, CMB and many others, strengthening both reach and system capacity.

At the community level, the Foundation paired service delivery with demand generation through caravan outreach, SMS awareness campaigns, radio campaigns and cross-sector partnerships such as SPIRO and Scania in Kenya to link good vision with road safety.

Education-focused work with the Roger Federer Foundation and the University of Vermont embedded vision care into schools in Zambia and The Gambia, laying the groundwork for long-term, teacher-led screening and referral.

Together, these efforts reflect a cohesive strategy: build national systems, deliver at scale, and ensure communities can access and use vision care services.

Check out our game-changing models in Africa:

In Oceania, the Foundation focused on bringing vision care to some of the world’s most remote island communities. The year marked important progress in positioning vision care as a public health priority while ensuring services reached communities where access has historically been limited by geography.

A major milestone was the launch of the WHO SPECS 2030 initiative in Vanuatu, the first Pacific island nation to do so. Working alongside the Ministry of Health and international partners, the Foundation supported efforts to strengthen community-level services, establish clear referral pathways to provincial and national hospitals, and improve access to eyeglasses and essential vision care across the country.

Delivery extended well beyond national capitals. In Tuvalu, school-based vision and hearing screenings were conducted for the first time, enabling early detection and timely follow-up for children across the island nation. In Papua New Guinea, Fiji and other remote locations, the Foundation partnered with organisations such as CBM New Zealand, YWAM and Aidocean to deliver care via medical ships and community clinics, reaching populations for whom seeing an optometrist would otherwise require unaffordable travel.

Leadership and urgency played a critical role. During a visit to Tuvalu, Wayne Tennent, the Head of the Foundation in Oceania, demonstrated how simple solutions, delivered quickly and with care, can restore independence, even late in life.

Together, these efforts reflect a clear regional approach: pair policy commitment with persistent last-mile delivery to ensure vision care reaches those greatest in need.

Here’s how we made a difference in Oceania this year, as told by Wayne Tennent:

2025 wrapped: Africa & Oceania: Scaling Vision Care from National Systems to the Last Mile

Latest articles

Latest articles